Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1887-12-12
A Famous CObbler Boy.

In 1929 a poor cobbler of the little
city of Stendal, Germany, lived il
his little shop, attached to the dark
mossv wall of the college garden
and the scholars, during the hours et
recess, amused themselves BY throw
ing fruits or nuts on the humble
| dwelling, shouting, "Good morning
| cobbler y At other times they tossed
their shoes over to be mended In the
same manner at the risk of being Sc
verely reprimanded by their tutors
This intercourse had established &
sort Of acquaintanceship between the
| college and the honest shoemaker. who
faithfully carried back the shoes thai
reached him in so unusual a manner
He had gradually obtained the Gus.
tom of all the little scamps, and Il
was by no means to be dispised, for
the restless movements of childhood
are the destruction of shoes.
Bowed over his workbench. in
spite of the sharp rheumatic pain that
sometimes forced an exclamation
from his lips, the poor cobbler toiled
from morning TO night. He was thin
and although scarcely fifty, appeared
like a very old man; poverty and
sickness had doubled his years. Mass
es of white hair fell over his hollow
temples, contrasting strangely with
the piercing eyes beneath his black
eyebrows. A widower for several
| years and unfortunate, the poor man
never smiled except when, returning
from school at nightfall his son threw
his arms aronnd his neck to embrace
him. Then the shop assumed mare
cheerful appearance, the cobber
laid aside his tools and leathern apron,
washed his hands in a bowl Of water,
rekindled the fire in the stove, and BE-
gan to prepare the evening meal as
neatly as a woman. Ill-ftting wood
en- shutters were closed from within
over the glass doorway, and the "a
ther and child then felt perfectly Sc
cluded, and while eating their supper
told each other about the events OF
the dav. The child, delicate and at
| tractive, with an expressive face and
fair hair, would tell his father about
his learning something every day and
that his teachers, delighted with his
progress, were talking of placing him
in college as pattern scholar. The
father, radiant with pleasure, en-
braced the child, looking at him
proudly, almost as one would regard
something greatly superior to him
self, exclaiming with emotion:
.'Ob my doar Joachim, why cd L
not rich, would make you learned
and happy MANI
Il want to begin by being learned,
replied little Joachim, ''then we will
be happy afterward-
While conversing thus, he helped
his father in his household cares, and
! asked the poor, supplemented man,
what he had seen and done during
the day. When they had finished
their supper, the father resumed his
work and the child read aloud from
the books that he had received az
prizes at school. His father some
times induced him to read in his old
Bible; the Bible that contained the
date Of his marriage, and had been
kissed by his dying wife. But little
Joachim preferred.f German transla-
ton of Homer, which had been given
him as a prize.1 By degrees the poor
cobbler became interested in the he
roic tales his son loved so passionate
". sThe child stopped at the close
of every canto to express his surprise
and delight. .sWhat a world what
a country what a sky what land
scapes what beauty these gods and
heroes must have possessed !" One
dav he added ''But there is some
thing wanting in this book
ssWbat Is that ?.saasked his father.
beautiful pia5fes to make the
gods and goddessssiof whose beauty
Homer sings, visible to our eyes Oh3
father, if we were Sch, we would bg8
Jupiter, Juno, Mars Nd yenus-v&
nus, especially, whom 1 always see
bathing in.saessn n, ssgoundG q
by rose-colored mist =
The poor cobbler listenea to his
son, without fully understanding sh,
but his heart enabled him to sompre-
hend that his chAd fs8mishes that
his poverty preventedh5m from graf
ifving, and he suffered more and more
each day.
From the evening that the cllld
had wished to have pictures in'his
copy of Homer, the goqS eobbler
thought of nothing but the means of
gratifying his desire. But wheressFas
| he to find Jupiter, Juno, espee-
iallv Venus: There was no muse
um at Stendal, and the old man had
never seen the image Of the most
beautiful Of the goddesses.
One morning, when he had taken
back to the college some shoes that
he had mended for the scholars, the
door-keeper left him waiting in z
sort of parlor, while he went to col
! lect the payment for his work and